Travel-speed reduction gearing for tractors



P 1952 A. c. HOWARD 2,608,877

TRAVEL-SPEED REDUCTION GEARING FOR TRACTORS Filed Oct. 7, 1949 3 SheetsSneetl INVENTOR.

4,6. HOWARD ATTORNEYS.

Sept. 2, 1952 A. c. HOWARD SPEED REDUCTION GEARING FOR TRACTORS TRAVEL- Filed Oct. '7, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. AC HUM/A20 Sept. 2, 1952 A. c. HOWARD 2,603,877

TRAVEL-SPEED REDUCTION GEARING FOR TRACTORS Filed Oct. 7, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG 4 IN V EN TOR.

A'C HON/4RDv BY Patented Sept. 2, 1952- TRAYEL- SPEED REDUCTION GEARING FOR Ta-Ac'roas ri j Aim m- Clifford Howard, n nnies England, assignor of one-half. to Rotary Hoes Limited, East Horndon, England Application October 7, 1949, Serial No. 120,106 In Great Britain November 5, 1948 1 For some agricultural purposesit is desirable for a tractor to be driven at lessthan its minimum designed speed-e. g., when being used in conjunction with a rotary cultivating machine, the latter possibly having its earth-working rotor driven from a power take-off shaft of thetractor.

In British patent specification No. 560,085 there is provided a travel-speed reduction gearing for a tractor having a shaft with a relatively. fixed driving member (e. g., aworm or a spur or bevel gear) meshing a coacting driven member on a ground-engaging wheel axle.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a travel-speed reduction gearing for a tractor of the kind in which at'leastone ground: engaging wheel is to be driven throughtwo aligned shafts. which are interconnected by a removable sleeve and coacting splines.

According to'the invention, a travel-speed reduction gearing for a tractor of the kind set forth, includes two gear wheels mounted, by splines, to be drivingly fast withjthefsplined shaft ends in substitution of thesaid sleeve, one of them being axially slidable, by'selector means, between one extreme position, in which interen- Y gageable surfaces of the said-gear wheels coact duction. e

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a shaft gear !wheels providing the desired speed retractor of the kind to which the invention relates,

the figure showing, in section, the removable sleeve which interconnects the two aligned shafts; and

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the sleeve, showing the splined interconnection and, inter alia, an actuator for a clutch in the drive to a pump for the supply of a hydraulic fluid for operating an implement-lifting mechanism of the tractor.

Figure 3 is a view, similar to Figure 2, but showing the reduction gear of the invention in position as substituted for the splined sleeve,the view corresponding with a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 5.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of part of the reduction gear unit which takes the place of the splined sleeve, the section being taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 5, and

Figure 5 is an end view of the unit, the view being on the line 5-5 of Figure 3.

2 cl ims (01. 74-134a) Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the tractor'gear box H, which is'provided with the usual operating lever l2, hasan output shaft of which a splined end l3 projects rearwardly from the rear wall. The-splined .end 13 is drivingly interconnected, by a sleeve M, with an adjacent splined end l5 of the input shaft of the differential gear, which latter is indicated generally at It, the half-shaft for driving one of the ground engaging wheels of the tractor being shown at H.

The travel-speed reduction gearing of the invention, see Figures 3 to 5, includes two coaxial gear wheels .l8, l9, which are internally splined for-connectionlto thesplined shaftends, and layshaft gear wheels 20. These wheels are journalled, with provision for the axial sliding of the slidable gear wheel 18, between spaced end plates2l, 22, of which the latter one is for attachment (as by bolts,'one of which is shown at 23 ,in Figure 3) to the adjacent Wall of the gear boxi If The end plates can be tied together by bolts. with spacers (not shown, but passing through the holes 4|.see Figure 5) or the end plate}! could even be secured to a stationary portion of the tractor. I I

For incorporating the reduction gearingin such a tractor, the tractor gear casing 24 (Figure l) is appropriatelyopened and the splined sleeve it removed. The reduction gearing of the invention is then installed and the aligned shafts returned to their original relative positions.

v This ,condition is shown by Figure 3, in which i s falsofshown theuse of a splined extension shaft 25 "when the ga between the splined shaft ends l3 and I5 is too great to provide an effective splined connection with the wheels [8, I9 of the reduction gear. r

In some tractors of the kind set forth, and as shown in Figures 1 and 2,'there is also normally provided, in the region of the splined sleeve I4, a control 26 for a clutch (indicated generally at 21 in the drive to a pump for the supply of a hydraulic fluid, for example, to a lifting mechanism (not shown) for an implement to be associated with the tractor.

In the example shown the control has a finger 28, working through a slot 29 in a part of the clutch housing, and spaced grooves 30 for coaction with a spring-pressed ball for locating it in its two alternative positions. In some instances, this control is so disposed as to obstruct the placing in position of the reduction gearing of the invention. To avoid that the said control is removed from its normal position and is mounted" on a stationary part (e. g., one of the said end plates M, 22) of the reduction gearing.

There is an annular groove 34 in a boss 35 fast with the slidable wheel; :l8 andthe groove is for engagement by a gear shifting fork 236:}, The latter is carried by a sleeve}? which can he slid, on a peg as fast wi ness endpjlatefl l j by a control (not shown) intdtwo alternative positions in which latter it is located by the and gears having interengageable end surfaces to couple the input and output shafts directly together, and means for shifting said slidable second gear axially of its shaft.

2- Ear s with winterin at ra 'sion; an oiltplit shaft eaten g flQIfl the transmission and having a s'plin'd "'endja differential gearing and an input shaft for said gearing aligned with and spaced in end to end fashion from said-outputshaft and having a splined end; 'anauxiliary transmission adapted to drivingly connect said shafts and including a pair of mountingplates'f fixed in longitudinally spacedfashionjtransvers'ely of the shafts, a first gear spring-pressed ball 39 (Figure-'5') and tone. or

other of the grooves 40.

For adapting a tractor, of the kind seteforth and designed for a minimum speed of, say, 2% miles per hour, for use with a rotary cultivator, the reduction gearing maybe proportioned so as to reduce the minimum speed to approximately 0.7 of af ine per hour. Obviously, however, the reduction gearinglcould' be so proportioned as to provide for another desired minimum speed, which is less than the designed minimum speed of the unmodified tractor, accordingto the use to which the tractor is to beput, What I claim; as "my-invention anddesire-to secure by Letters" Patent of the United Statesis:

1. For use with a tractorhaving a transmission, an output shaft'extending from the transmission and having a splined endgafdiiferential gearing and an input.v shaft for said gearing aligned with and spaced inend to end fashion frolnsaid output shaft'and having a spline end; an auxiliary transmission adapted to drivingly connect said shafts and including a'pair of mounting plates fixed in longitudinally spaced fashion transversely of the shafts, a -first gear slidably disposed on the spline end of 'sa idinpu t shaft and having'ajs'lee've end, oneof said plates having an opening slidably supporting the sleeve end of the gear'with the gear disposed adjacent the inner face of the plate and'the other plate supporting the splinedend' of thefoutput shaft andhaving an opening receiving the endgaflsec- 0nd gear mounted on said'end offltheontput shaft at the inner face of saidplate, a layshaft journalled in said plates parallel with jsaid .input and out'putfshafts, gears on said layshaft adapted tolinesh withjthe first and second gears to provide a travel speed reduction said'firstand sec-:-

slidably disposed on the spline end of said input shaft'and having a sleeve end, one of said plates havingan opening slidably supporting the sleeve 1 endpf the gear with the gear disposed adjacent the inner face of the plate and the other plate supportingthe splineq'end of the output shaft and having an opening receiving'theend, asecond'gear' mountedcn said end of theoutput shaft at the innerfa-ce of saidiplate, ajlayshaft journalled in" said plates parallel with 'saidinput and output shafts; gears onsaid 'laysha ft adapted to mesh with thefirst an second gears to providea'travel speed reduction, said first an'd sem 0nd gears, having interengageable end; surfaces to couplethe input and output-shafts directly togetherfand meansfor shifting-said s'lidable sec- 0nd gear axially of its shaft, saidlast meansin um a a V v [D e Re. 17,707 Maybach LQJ me 24, 1930 2,241,764- fBollin'ger May 13, 1941 2,445,715 Steinberg ui 'zo, 194s "2, i8'7,785 Sherman Nov, 23,1949 i Y FOREIGN PATENTS I Number i Country Date Great Britain Apr.-4, 1944 

